Is the listener less tormented,or the speaker?

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Jonathan Robie
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Re: Is the listener less tormented,or the speaker?

Post by Jonathan Robie »

linjinting wrote: February 4th, 2024, 11:46 am Matthew 9:5 "Tι γάρ εστιν εὐκοπώτερον, εἰπεῖν· Ἀφίενταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι, ἢ εἰπεῖν· Ἔγειρε καὶ περιπάτει;" εὐκοπώτερον is made up of ευ and κοπωτερον, which is used to describe 'to torment a person' like cutting a stone, plus the prefix ευ which means 'to torment less'. This verse literally translates as "Which is less tormenting, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?" From the context, it means which is less tormenting to the listener. In verse 2 'The Lord Jesus said to the paralytic, 'Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven,' and the paralytic did not respond. In verse 6 'Jesus said to the paralytic, 'Get up, take your bed and go home,' and (verse 7) the man got up and went home.
This is one of three posts, close together in time, where you quote a text and offer an opinion without asking any questions and without careful explanation of what part of the Greek text leads you to your conclusion.

From your posts, I can't tell if you can read Greek or not. I don't know what aspect of these Greek texts your posts are about.

Except for εὐκοπώτερον. Did you use a Greek lexicon? If so, which one? Here are a few dictionaries and their definitions:
εὔκοπος -ον εὖ, [κόπος] easy, smooth POL. 18.18.2 NT Mark 2:9, al. etc. ‖ compar. -ώτερος ♦ adv. εὐκόπως easily, with ease HP. Epid. 2.6.31 DIOD. 3.24.3 PLUT. QConv. 727a etc. ‖ compar. -ώτερον.

Franco Montanari, ed. Madeleine Goh and Chad Schroeder, The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2015).
εὔκοπος, ον (s. κόπος and next entry; Polyb. 18, 18, 2; LXX) easy in our lit. only in comp. εὐκοπώτερος (Diosc. I 39 W.) Hm 12, 4, 5. In the NT always in the expr. εὐκοπώτερόν ἐστιν it is easier w. inf. foll. (cp. Sir 22:15) Mt 9:5; Mk 2:9; Lk 5:23. W. acc. foll. and inf. (cp. 1 Macc 3:18) Mt 19:24; Mk 10:25; Lk 16:17; 18:25.—DELG s.v. κόπτω. M-M.

William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 407.
**†εὔ-κοπος, -ον, [in LXX: Si 22:15, 1 Mac 3:18*;] with easy labour, easy: compar., -ώτερόν ἐστι, c. inf., Mt 9:5, Mk 2:9, Lk 5:23; c. acc. et inf., Mt 19:24, Mk 10:25, Lk 16:17; 18:25 (Polyb.; the adv. -ως occurs in Aristoph., Fr., 615).†

G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1922), 186.
εὔ-κοπος, -ον, (εὖ and κόπος), that can be done with easy labor; easy: Polyb. et al.; Sir. 22:15; 1 Macc, 3:18; in the N. T. only in the phrase εὐκοπώτερόν ἐστι,—foll. by inf., Mt. 9:5; Mk. 2:9; Lk. 5:23; by acc. w. inf., Mt. 19:24; Mk. 10:25; Lk. 16:17; 18:25.*

Joseph Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being Grimm’s Wilke's Clavis Novi Testamenti (New York: Harper & Brothers., 1889), 259.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
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